


Worthwhile

by badly_knitted



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Beginnings, Developing Relationship, Drama, Eventual Fluff, Falling In Love, Ficlet, Heartbreak, Immortality, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23463532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badly_knitted/pseuds/badly_knitted
Summary: Jack gave up on love and relationships after Lucia, but then along came Ianto Jones…
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	Worthwhile

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Prompt 132: Beginning at anythingdrabble.
> 
> **Spoilers:** Cyberwoman, DW The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

In the beginning it was simple lust for a well-proportioned body and an attractive face. Jack didn’t do relationships, not anymore; loving and losing, whether through the death of his partner or their rejection of him, hurt too much. He only had the one heart to last him through eternity and if he kept on getting it broken where would that leave him? The last time, with Lucia leaving and taking their young daughter with her, had shattered him almost beyond repair.

Ianto Jones, although something of a tease at first, proved warm and willing once Jack finally succeeded in seducing him. They had good, dirty fun, both of them getting what they needed from their little trysts: a vigorous workout, a healthy physical release, and undemanding, agreeable companionship. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement with no strings attached, and Jack certainly had no complaints. For a twenty-first century human, Ianto proved remarkably open-minded.

Of course, it all turned out to be a ruse, a convenient way for Ianto to distract Jack from what he was really up to in the Hub’s lower levels, hiding his half-converted girlfriend. Discovering that put rather a damper on things for a while, but once the dust settled they gradually resumed their extracurricular activities. It was good for Ianto, helped him feel less alone. Not that Jack didn’t enjoy it too because of course he did, but Ianto’s wellbeing was his first concern. He’d failed the young man before, not seeing what was going on behind the mask he wore; he wouldn’t make that mistake again. Ianto needed a reason to keep going, and Jack was happy to provide it.

Then the Doctor stopped off in Cardiff, and Jack dropped everything and ran, not wanting to miss what might be his one chance of getting the answers he’d been waiting over a century for.

Everything went wrong; the answers he got weren’t what he wanted to hear, and the Doctor couldn’t fix him. Worse, he spent a year being tortured and killed by an insane, psychopathic Time Lord, but at least it gave him plenty of time to think, and as the hung there in chains in the engine room of the Valiant, he began to realise something. Somewhere along the line, Ianto Jones had gone from being someone he enjoyed uncomplicated sex with to someone he cared about a whole lot more than he’d ever intended to.

By the time the paradox ended and time was rewound, Jack had reached a decision. When he got back to Cardiff, it Ianto was interested, he was going to do things right; ask him out on a date, see where things went from there.

Yes, it meant he’d be opening himself up to heartbreak again, sooner rather than later given the short life expectancy of Torchwood agents, but it was too late to worry about that; his battered old heart was Ianto’s already. 

This would be a new beginning; loving Ianto was worth the inevitable pain.

The End


End file.
